Cooking appliances, and in particular electric cooking/grilling devices such as griddles, are known. These grilling devices typically have a lower housing having a lower cooking surface and an upper housing having an upper cooking surface, wherein the cooking surfaces are typically heated by an electrical resistance heater. A handle attached to the upper housing allows a user to raise and lower the upper housing relative to the lower housing to accommodate a food item therebetween to be heated.
While existing grilling devices are generally suitable for what is regarded as ordinary performance, there is room for improvement in terms of convenience, ease of use and increased functionality. As will be readily appreciated, to determine the temperature or doneness of food items, typical grills require a user to open the grill and pause cooking in order to insert a thermometer. In view the tedious nature of this process, there is a need for a cooking appliance that includes a means for measuring the doneness of food items during cooking.